Jeannie Cheatham Explained

Jean E. Evans (born August 14, 1927) is an American blues and jazz singer, pianist, and composer. She is noted most for her musical collaboration with husband Jimmy Cheatham, with whom she formed the Sweet Baby Blues Band in 1984. Her autobiography, Meet Me With Your Black Drawers On: My Life In Music, was published in 2006.^{[1] [2] [3]}

Biography

Cheatham was born and grew up in Akron, Ohio, the first child of Elizabeth (French: née Smart) and Ernest Evans.^[4] At the age of five, she started having lessons on her aunt's newly-acquired piano, which was soon moved to Cheatham's home when it transpired that she had a talent for music her aunt lacked. Not long after, she began playing for services at the church her family attended. Throughout her school years, Cheatham's piano teacher also took her to play at weddings and social events, as well as to give recitals.

Cheatham first played jazz music when, aged 14, she was asked to join a local 15-piece rehearsal orchestra. While still in high school, she began playing in smaller groups,^[5] and found herself in demand professionally as most younger musicians were drafted into the US Army during World War II. In 1944, she was accepted as a student at the University of Akron, but was unable to complete more than one year for financial reasons.^[5]

Writing in the Los Angeles Times in 1992, Dirk Sutro (author of Jazz for Dummies) noted that "Jeannie Cheatham remains one of the under-appreciated greats of jazz and blues, both for her spare, tasteful piano playing, which ranges from boogie-woogie to Monkish surprises, and for her earthy but sensuous voice."^[6]

In 2006, Jeannie and Jimmy Cheatham received a lifetime achievement award at the San Diego Music Awards,^[7] and in November 2022, were inducted into the San Diego Music Hall of Fame.^[8]

Discography

• Academy Awards in Jazz (1964)^[9]
  Roberta Como & Jean Cheatham
  
  Grenadier Records
  
• Changing with the Times (1993)^[10]
  George Lewis
  New World Records
  

Notes and References

1. Trageser . Jim . 2022 . Catching up with Jeannie Cheatham . . . Center for the Study of Southern Culture . 53 . 278 . 10–11 . 0024-5232 . January 12, 2023.
2. Web site: Trageser . Jim . 2022 . Happy Birthday, Jeannie! Jeannie Cheatham Celebrates her 95th Birthday this Month . January 12, 2023 . San Diego Troubadour . San Diego Troubadour . San Diego, CA.
3. Book: Cheatham, Jeannie . Meet Me With Your Black Drawers On: My Life In Music . 2006 . University of Texas Press . 9780292712935 . Austin, TX . January 12, 2023 . registration . Internet Archive.
4. Web site: 2022 . Seventeenth Census of the United States, 1950, Record Group 29, Roll 728, ED 89-133, Sheet 10, Line 20 . Washington, DC . . January 17, 2023 . FamilySearch.
5. Dance . Helen Oakley . Helen Oakley Dance . 1987 . Jeannie Cheatham . . 40 . 10 . London . Jazz Journal Ltd. . 12–14.
6. News: Sutro . Dirk . April 7, 1992 . San Diego Spotlight . subscription . 111 . 126 . San Diego County . Los Angeles . The Times Mirror Company . 0458-3035 . F2 . January 18, 2023 . Newspapers.com.
7. Web site: Trageser . Jim . September 13, 2006 . San Diego Music Awards set for Monday . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20230128094107/https://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/sdut-san-diego-music-awards-set-for-monday-2006sep13-story.html . January 28, 2023 . The San Diego Union–Tribune . San Diego, CA . January 28, 2023.
8. Web site: Bell . Diane . November 8, 2022 . San Diego Music Hall of Fame has six new inductees . The San Diego Union-Tribune . San Diego, CA . January 13, 2023 .
9. May 2, 1964 . A Smash Album: Academy Awards in Jazz [Advert] ]. . 25 . 34 . New York . The Cash Box Publishing Co. . 45 . January 14, 2023 . Internet Archive.
10. January 1, 1993 . George Lewis . Changing with the Times . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20200921084928/https://nwr-site-liner-notes.s3.amazonaws.com/80434.pdf . September 21, 2020 . New York . New World Records . January 18, 2023.